The present invention relates to a maintenance-and-control apparatus of a device for coordinate and surface texture measurement, and more particularly to a maintenance-and-control aid apparatus wherein operating information of a measuring device is extracted through analyzing a part program of measurement and output of measurements, and wherein aid information relating to maintenance and control of the measuring device is generated from a history of the operating information.
A three-dimensional coordinate measuring device as is commonly used to measure and evaluate dimensions and shapes of a workpiece, can also be used for measuring and evaluating surface roughness of the workpiece by exchanging a measuring probe of the device. Three-dimensional coordinate measuring devices are extensively used in a wide variety of industries because a diverse array of measuring probes, such as a touch trigger sensor, camera, or laser sensor, may be attached.
Three-dimensional coordinate measuring devices are precise mechatronic devices. For this reason, effective maintenance and control is essential to maintain accuracy and efficiency of measurements of three-dimensional coordinate devices.
Periodic inspection and repair by a serviceperson is usually adopted as the method for maintaining and control of a three-dimensional coordinate measuring device. With today""s devices, the serviceperson can not keep track of the detailed operating history of the measuring device when performing inspection or repair. Therefore, they must use an array of inspection devices to ascertain the condition of the measuring device or identify the cause of functional deterioration, which leads to an increase in cost of maintenance and control.
The present invention aims to solve these conventional problems mentioned above. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide means for extracting operating information of a measuring device by analyzing a part program of measurement and output of measurement results, and generating aid information relating to maintenance and control for the measuring device from a history of the operating information.
The present invention attempts to solve the conventional problems described above and comprises of means or steps for analyzing operating status of a measuring device wherein a part program of measurement, output of a measurement result, or both are input, and operating information of the measuring device is extracted, and storage means or steps for storing said operating information.
The present invention may also be configured so as to comprise means or steps for analyzing operating status of a measuring device wherein a part program of measurement, or output of a measurement results, or both are input, and operating information related to each component of the measuring device is extracted; and storage means or steps for storing said operating information.
The present invention may also include means or steps for generating maintenance-and-control aid information for a measuring device wherein maintenance-and-control aid information is generated from the history of operating information stored in said storage means.
Furthermore, the present invention may comprise means or steps for analyzing operating status of the measuring device wherein a part program of measurement, output of a measurement result, or both are input and operating information of the measuring device is extracted for each component, and database converting means or steps for converting said operating information for each component to a database for storing said maintenance-and-control aid information for the measuring device.
As described above, a three-dimensional coordinate measuring system according to the present invention extracts operating information for each component of a measuring device through analysis of a part program of measurement and output of a measurement result and stores them to construct a database of operating history of the measurement device. A serviceperson can therefore readily understand details of the operating history of the measurement device and easily acquire information assisting inspection of the measuring device for operating state or functional deterioration.
The present invention is also capable of organically using a maintenance information database and an operating history database of a measuring device wherein the operating information of each component of the measuring device is extracted and registered through analysis of the part program of measurement and the output of measurement. In this way as well, it is possible to aid high-level maintenance and control to monitor and estimate the state of the measuring device and to analyze the cause of functional deterioration or failure.
Maintenance and control of the three-dimensional coordinate measuring device is made more effective and economical. The sore operating history data and maintenance information of the measuring device can also be utilized as design aid information through feedback of the registered data to the measuring device design process.